Police arrested 25 people following raids on a number of hijacked buildings in Hillbrow‚ downtown Johannesburg‚ on Wednesday.

The task team aimed to look for criminal elements and check whether municipality by-laws are being contravened.

Metro police spokesperson Wayne Minnaar described the operation as a success.

"We conducted a joint operation‚ 'Bad Buildings'‚ in Hillbrow‚ where 124 individuals were taken in for questioning. Out of the 124‚ 21 were illegal immigrants‚" he said.

"There were three arrested for [possession of] illegal ammunition and a home-made rifle. There was one suspect arrested for selling liquor without a licence."

Minnaar said the focus of the operation was on hijacked buildings‚ which often harbour criminals.

"This operation was a success in that we were able to sift out criminals in possession of firearms and ammunition‚ and also we were able to track undocumented foreign nationals‚" he said.

A joint effort by SA police services led to raids on various buildings in Hillbrow on June 12 2019. There were four arrests and numerous suspects taken into custody for questioning.
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